A Hanging
by Melodramatic.FruitCup
Summary: A pirate captain meets a Tortuga woman. Tragedy is all that's left in the end.
1. Chapter 1

I present to you my second PotC fanfiction. Tada! The other I took down just because. I only hope this one will be as popular.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pirates of the Carribean. Read at your own risk.

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Just another whore in the vomit filled streets of Tortuga. So many foul smelling men were around me, on me, and in my bed that my nose had gone numb and so had my mind. I was detached from my body. I didn't feel anything I didn't have to or want to.

Tortuga was a man's paradise. That just showed how primitive men still were. Well, women can't be too far up the ladder if we have to resort to selling our bodies to eat. I was one of the higher class whores. Ha.

Those days I mostly took the more successful "sailors" of the lot. They were cleaner to some extent, well mannered to some extent, and they paid fairly well. The way they treated a whore, though greatly altered. They could be nice about things or they could be violent.

It was just another day, like any other. I smiled suggestively at men who passed by, trying to entice them into wanting me. My heart gave a sigh as I caught a man's attention. He was well dressed, but he still had the stink of sweat mixed with alcohol and seawater. He wasn't as bad as the rest, kind of gentle actually. I guess this time I wouldn't have to act so much and rather do.

I pulled him into the building where I did my business along with some other fellow whores. I led him to our nicest room which consisted of a double bed with silks sheets that I had gotten as payment from one of my long term business dealings. The wallpaper was water damaged but there were nice pictures hanging on the wall. There was an armoire filled with various dresses for the whores to wear if the one they had on got too soiled or damaged.

The room was dimly lit because there was so much grime covering the windows. It didn't matter. I preferred less lighting to more.

I turned to face him with my hands on my hips. "Show me your money. I don't fuck for free." He nodded with a grin on his face and his body shook with silent laughter. He reached into a grimy little sack and dumped a fair bit of gold coins on the floor. "Watch it! I need every bit I can get. It's no use to me if it gets lost underneath the floorboards. I scrambled to pick up the coins.

The man just watched me thoroughly amused. "I'm glad I can entertain you so." I said in a sickly sweet voice.

"You're a feisty one, aren't you?" He asked still highly entertained.

"Only if you want me to be." I said suggestively. "What do you want me to do? I don't do it up the ass, anymore. Not after what happened last time."

"That's fine with me. Let's just get on with it. I'm due back in two hours and I've some other business to attend to."

"Fine, fine. Drop your britches and I'll lift my skirts."

I laid there tangled in the bed sheets, my dress flung across the room. He sat on the edge of the bed pulling his shirt and pants back on. I plucked a rumpled piece of cloth off the bed and threw it at him. He grunted his acknowledgment and tied it around his waist like a sash.

"You're welcomed back anytime you need anything. I hope you enjoyed yourself. I can assure you that I did." _I don't know why you'd care. You'll probably forget about me, anyways. I wouldn't mind if there were more of you to take up business with me. It'd make my life a hell of a lot easier._ I turned on my side and propped my head up with my bent arm.

He turned to look at me. "I'll be back." I smiled and rolled onto to my stomach

"That's what a lot of men say. Most of them come back when they stop by. What's the name of the ship you sail on? I go to the docks looking for ships of my customers who say they'll come back. They like that I look out for them. It makes them feel special, I guess." I traced the faded pattern on the sheets and idly plucked at a frayed edge.

"A man likes to have a woman waiting for his arrival." He turned to his boots and started lacing them up. "There's no need for me to tell you my ship's name. I'd rather remain a mystery to you. It'll keep you wondering."

I got off the bed and walked over to my dress. "I assure you that you won't leave my mind. I'll be waiting." I said as I slipped the wrinkled dress on. Smoothing out the wrinkles I saw him walk towards the door. He tipped his hat towards me as a farewell and went out of the room. I heard his heavy footsteps and went to the window. I took the curtain and wiped a portion of it. I spied him walking in the direction of the docks but he turned at the intersection taking himself to another part of Tortuga.

I scurried over to the bag of gold I had left tucked under the bed. I dumped the contents on a cleared area on the bed and counted it up. I squealed at the amount he had given to me. I wouldn't have to work for awhile if I didn't want to. Repairs could be made, new dresses could be bought, and decent food could be acquired. I thanked the God I didn't believe existed.


	2. Chapter 2

I was going to wait a week before I posted this chapter but I got bored.

Disclaimer: See Chapter One.

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A new suspicion grew as the weeks passed by and I came to a most unhappy conclusion. It wasn't his child. I planned a quick trip to the seamstress that doubled as a midwife to the women. I went there and left with a lighter load. I only felt a small pang of guilt about what I had just done but then I looked around me from where I stood. No child of mine would grow up here. 

With an unyielding stance I took a strong hold of my finances and went to work. I stopped whoring myself out and started working as a barmaid that kept her favors to herself. It was a decrepit looking place but the pay was fair and I got less trouble from the men than I had expected. The money was piling up and I was waiting. I stayed at the same whore house but instead my job was looking after the girls.

They all came to me with a variety of problems. The majority of them were mundane and easily fixed. For others the solutions didn't come without a great deal of thinking. I settled into my new life with ease. After a few months passed I began to think of him less everyday. He just didn't seem as important as he used to.

But that changed soon. I was walking down one of the narrower and filthier streets. That's where I saw him. He stood far away from me, turned to the side. I couldn't be sure that it was him but the memory of him flooded back to me. It was as if our encounter had happened moments ago.

I stood rooted to the spot, unable to move. He was gone before I had pulled myself together. Did I dare hope he would visit? I hurried on with my business. I would ashamedly wait around for him. I would sit by the window hoping he would come. A couple days later he came.

"I hear you've become more respectable since I've been gone." His voice startled me and I looked up to find him standing in the doorway.

"There's nothing respectable about me." At this he smiled and entered the room. He looked around and looked at me.

"You've done well since I've been gone." He sounded approving which made me flush with pleasure.

"I had a windfall." I looked up at him and suddenly felt unsure. There was no way I could tell that he felt like I did. "It's thanks to you I don't have to…" I suddenly became embarrassed and looked away from him. He moved in closer and touched my cheek. I closed my eyes. I couldn't bear to look at him. I wasn't even sure he was real.

"It's alright." He said softly, but how could he know?

"But it's not. How can it be? After what I've done, what I am?" I stood up and moved away from him.

"I'm as much of a gentleman as you are a lady."

"You barely know me." It took all I could to fight back this onslaught of emotions that had left me so long ago. "It's too easy to be real."

"Then don't let it be real. Let it be what it is." He tried to kiss me but I turned my head. He tried again but still I resisted. He tried a third time and that was all it took. I decided to be foolish. I decided to hope.

I couldn't call it love because it wasn't love. It was something different. I took it for what it was and dared to dream. Our relationship was born of lust and longing. I knew he didn't feel like I did. How could he? He was a pirate captain, as good as married to the sea. We never spoke of the future or the past. It was the present that mattered to us.

He would be gone months at a time. It was when he brought me back my first gift when I realized that I was his mistress. Loved but not loved and easily cast aside. I wondered how many women had gone before me. But I thrust those thoughts out of my head and let my heart be taken away.

The others warned me that it wouldn't last. They said he would loose interest and sail away forever. Or he would die or find somebody else. They told me to protect myself but I didn't now how.

While he was gone I got sick. Fever raged through my body. I thought I would die without ever seeing him again. Everyone was sure I would die. There was little chance of me surviving in Tortuga. People often died in the same condition I was in.

He found me on my deathbed. I had never seen him cry but this time he did. He said he'd take me away. I don't remember being carried away from the place I had called home for years. He had packed up my things and did what he had promised. My pirate captain managed to find a respectable doctor for me in a colonized island that didn't yet know him as a pirate.

When I woke from my sickness I found a ring on my hand. There was a woman sitting in a chair beside my bed. She stood up and set aside her sewing. "You're awake! I'll be back in a minute. Your husband will want to know." She left me alone and confused. Husband? What had happened while I had lain unaware of the world around me? I didn't know where I was and how I had survived. I felt so weak and tired. I wanted to sleep but I didn't. I looked around the small but clean room for any clue. I stared at the simple gold band on my finger as if it would tell me what was going on.

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	3. Chapter 3

Short? Why yes it is. But I couldn't make myself make it any longer. So I chopped the rest off and saved it for the next chapter.

Disclaimer: See first chapter.

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When he entered the room and saw me he burst into a wide grin. I smiled weakly. He looked so happy but I didn't know why. He turned to the woman. "Will you leave us for awhile?" She nodded and left the room again. 

"What's going on?" My voice sounded small and frail. I was surprised it could reach his ears. He came to my side and sat in the chair the woman had.

"To them you're my wife. It was the only way. We're safe here for now."

"They don't know what we are?" He shook his head. "What's going to happen when we leave? You're going to take me back?" I didn't want him to take me back. I wanted to sail far away from that place and never set my eyes on it again.

"Do you want to go back?" There was something in his voice I'd never heard before.

"No. But what will happen? You haven't answered me." His face became somber. He reached for my hand but I pulled it further away. "What about this?" I held up the hand with the ring. "Will it disappear once we're gone?" He looked away from me. "Of course it will." I said disgusted with him but mostly with myself.

We sat there in silence. It was a cold moment but when he spoke it didn't get any warmer. "Is that how it is then? I'll leave you to your thoughts." He stood up and walked to the door. Before opening it he looked over his shoulder and with his back still facing me he spoke. "For whatever reason I'm glad you're alive."

He left me shaken and confused. I had never felt so alone so I went to sleep hoping that I would stay like that. _Let me sleep a week away._ But I only slept for a few hours before waking up to the smell of food. The woman was there again but with a tray. It was only then that I realized how hungry I was.

I ate but I didn't talk to her. She talked though and I was surprised that I didn't mind. I needed a distraction. The woman had left with the tray but she came back with it in her hands with a letter laying on it. She handed it to me and left the room again.

My hands shook as I broke the seal. It was from him. I had never seen his handwriting before but it was like what I imagined it to be. The letter, though, was nothing I had ever dreamed of.

He had left and wouldn't be back for months. That was something I was used to but this time it was different. The letter said he left enough money for expenses until he returned. I tore the paper up and the pieces lay scattered all over my bed.

I yelled when the woman came into my room next. I yelled at her startled face to get out. Hot, angry tears ran down my face and I threw whatever was in reach across the room. I didn't understand. I didn't want to understand.

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Reviewing is good. Constructive criticism is great. 


	4. Chapter 4

It's 2:30 in the morning and I can't get to sleep. So what better thing to do than finish up this chapter and post it? I'm tired and bleh.

Disclaimer: See Chapter One.

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The next time I woke up my room had been cleaned of the evidence of my anger. If only it was that easy to get rid of the anger I felt. I gained back my strength slowly. At first all I could do was sit up in bed but that was followed by a short walk to chair by the window where I would sit and watch the birds in the tree right outside. There were books in my room but they were useless to me. I had only enough education to recognize a few words. They collected dust as I ignored them.

I was brought a lady's magazine with pictures of the latest fashions. This was diverting and I spent a long time looking through it. When I had gained most of my strength back I was surprised when I was told that a seamstress was coming for my measurements. It must have showed on my face for the woman explained to me that my husband had paid for a new wardrobe for me before he had left. I felt guilty and ashamed for looking forward to the visit because it was _him_ who had paid for it. I didn't know why he had and this scared me.

The day came that brought the arrival of the seamstress who had small experienced hands and a peculiar squint of her eyes. I was poked and prodded for measurements and designs were set before me on thin paper. I fingered the choices of fabric and lace. I eyed trimmings and buttons. Nothing seemed to be overlooked. With a few hours passed came the beginnings of my new clothes. When the work was finished I would be in possession of a decently sized wardrobe that would make me appear to be a decent lady.

When two of my outfits had been completed and sent to me I tried one on and ventured out of my room for the first time. I was in a four story house that belonged to a widow of three years with three young children. My hostess was rather young and her oldest was a boy of ten who had been sent away to a boarding school in England where her relatives could check up on him. Her two youngest were girls, taught at home by their governess.

I had not realized how starved I had been for conversation until I had sat down for tea with my hostess. Women were women no matter if they were whores or ladies and I enjoyed a woman's company. I avoided personal questions when I could but came up with plausible answers when I couldn't. I made up lies I desperately tried to keep track of, wary of slipping up. I played with her girls sometimes. She had asked me if I had any children. One time I did, I replied and she left it alone with a sympathetic nod of her head.

I settled into my temporary home. I even took the occasional ride into town with the widow. A month later the last of my clothes were sent to me. How many months had I been there? I couldn't answer that. I could've been there a year and wouldn't have had the slightest idea.

Once again I stopped thinking about him. I hated how he had shoved himself so deeply into my life. I secretly wanted him to love me the rest of my life while I pretended I didn't care about him one bit.

I felt him before I heard him. I heard him before I saw him. He was here and I was scared. The door opened and his familiar smell invaded the room. "Why have you come?"

"To take you away. I said I'd come back, so here I am." I still didn't look at him.

"Why should I go with you?"

"Because you're my—"

"Don't say it. You know it's not true."

"Well, I was hoping you'd want to be my fiancée." The breath was knocked out of me. Was this some cruel joke or did he speak only truth? I turned and faced him. He was still the same and he held out an engagement ring. I took it from his hand and he smiled so widely I was sure his face would crack in two.

"When? And where? It can't be here."

"Sail away from here with me and I'll take you someplace we can get married." I nodded in a dreamlike state. I was drunk with happiness and blinded by love. Anything seemed possible at that moment.

I packed the next day. We sailed at dawn. My eyes were barely cleared of sleep but giddiness swept over me. I had no memory of the first time on his ship but this time I let everything sink in. The crew was not what I had expected. It seemed my pirate captain went above and beyond to keep up the appearance of a merchant. The crew looked nothing like pirates but that changed soon enough once we had left port. Some leered at me which I was sorry to say I was use to and they seemed to know it.

I stayed in my cabin and only went on deck with my captain. So many men around me made me feel uncomfortable but I didn't know why. It wasn't like I was new to their vulgarities and crude ways. Maybe I had changed. The fever could've stripped me of my old self. It had melted away my past. I was reborn and had a chance to start over my life with my mistakes tucked under my belt.

Those were happy days. I was in limbo, blissfully unaware of the future and happily waving goodbye to my past. I had never felt so lucky.

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